Jowell & Randy are a Puerto Rican reggaeton duo composed of Joel Muñoz Martínez (born March 3, 1982) and Randy Ortiz Acevedo (born July 16, 1983). The duo have been active since the early-2000s and have become one of the most popular acts in reggaeton. They have released three studio albums, five mixtapes, and 23 singles as of June 2017. They were also members of the short-lived group Casa de Leones alongside J King & Maximan and Guelo Star. They became the first reggaeton acts to perform in Monaco and the first reggaeton duo to do so in Australia.
Career 1990s–2005: Early years Joel Alexis "Jowell" Muñoz Martínez was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 3, 1982 and grew up in Cataño, Puerto Rico, one of the island's poorest municipalities. He began to take interest in music at the age of seven listening to Puerto Rican rapper Vico C and his 1989 cassette La Recta Final. Vico C (born Luis Armando Lozada Cruz on September 8, 1971) is cited as being a pioneer of underground rap music in Puerto Rico during the mid- to late 1980s, playing a very influential role in the development of the genre. Jowell's first recording session was in 1996 for Los Fugitivos at a studio in Levittown, Puerto Rico alongside other rappers including Nicky Jam, Master Joe & O.G. Black, Camaleón, and Buru Fat Z. During the 1990s decade, most reggaeton albums composed by various artists used to be recorded in a day because of the low-budget equipments producers had at the time. Songs had to be recorded in one-take; any mistake meant having to restart the recording all over again.
Circa 1996, Jowell met Giann Arias and began organizing parties at garages, where Arias served as a DJ with Jowell rapping over the beat. Jowell began building fame from his features in various reggaeton mixtapes. Giann founded a low budget studio called Live Music in 1997 in order to record his own mixtapes with Jowell and other artists. Jowell's first commercial mixtape was The White in 1998, in which he took part performing the song "No Has Encontrado" alongside Caimito-based rapper Baby Killer, who was his duo partner for some months until Baby Killer's retirement. Later in 1997, Jowell was featured on DJ Flavor's mixtape Megatron Sex with the song "Yo Tengo Una Notita", which became popular in Puerto Rican nightclubs. Afterwards, Muñoz was tapped as an opening act for fellow reggaeton performers including Ranking Stone, Falo, Alberto Stylee, and Wiso G.
Randy Ariel Ortiz Acevedo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 16, 1983 and used to take part in a choir in a Puerto Rican church. As a child, he listened to rhythm and blues, blues, and soul music. He began his music career in 1998 and his first album appearance was on DJ Dice's mixtape In the House later that year.
Jowell and Randy first met during a friends reunion at Jowell's house. Randy was a friend of Jowell's younger brother at high school, which led to him being invited to Muñoz's house to watch a Felix "Tito" Trinidad boxing fight on television in 2000 alongside other friends and relatives. Jowell's brother told him that his friend Randy was interested in collaborating, but intimidated by Jowell's rising reggaeton career. Jowell invited Randy to record at his studio, believing in Randy's potential as a singer. However, Muñoz noticed that Randy needed improvement in the writing of his lyrics. Jowell proposed a duo, inspired by other acts including Baby Rasta & Gringo, Héctor & Tito, Wisin & Yandel, and Maicol & Manuel with Randy singing melodies and Jowell writing the rap verses. Randy's first solo album appearance was on Operación Sandunga with the song "Siéntelo Mujer", which was going to be part of the mixtape's promotion through radio and television, but was canceled after the producer was murdered.
In 2002, Jowell & Randy signed a three-year contract with Iván Joy on Diamond Music, his record label and their first album appearance was on The Majestic with the song "Todavía Recuerdo". The duo invested in a low-budget music video and managed to get the song played on Audio Activa 102.3, a radio station in western Puerto Rico, in exchange for recording jingles. In 2004, they were featured on Boy Wonder's album Chosen Few, which received a 2× platinum (Latin) certification for over 200,000 copies sold in the United States. Jowell still displays the award in his home as a tribute to the duo's first major commercial success. However, the group struggled to find attention in Puerto Rico. In 2005, Boy Wonder and Chencho Records organized a contest which consisted on an album composed by various new artists, titled El Draft. The duo R.K.M. & Ken-Y was announced as the contest's winner, chosen by fan votes. Frustrated at not being able to fulfill their goal of being famous, Jowell & Randy began to think about retiring from music.
Late 2005–2011: Move to White Lion and international success
During late 2005, while Jowell and Randy were trying to repair the former's car at a gas station, a luxury car passed by them. Randy noticed the driver was Elías de León, a well known producer in Puerto Rico, owner of White Lion Records and famous for discovering rapper Tego Calderón, duos Calle 13 and Zion & Lennox, and having executive produced various reggaeton albums since the mid-1990s. They approached de León with some of their demos. He listened to three songs and gave them his number, asking them to return his call the next day. In order to sign, the duo needed to end their three-year contract with Diamond Music. An angered Iván Joy asked for an unexpected high amount of money and some of the duo's unreleased songs. Jowell & Randy accepted and were able to sign with White Lion Records.
Jowell & Randy's first single released under their new record label was "Agresivo" featuring fellow Puerto Rican rapper Arcángel from the album La Calle, Vol. 1 in 2006. The promotion by White Lion led to the song being broadcast on all radio stations and music-related television channels in Puerto Rico. The single became the duo's first entry on Billboard, peaking at No. 27 on Latin Rhythm Airplay on September 19, 2006. On March 1, 2007, the song garnered two People Choice Reggaeton and Urban Awards for Best Collaboration of the Year and Best Song of the Year. They also won as the Revelation Duo of the Year and Randy's performance on "Soy Una Gárgola" received the Catchiest Chorus award.
The success of "Agresivo" established the duo within the reggaeton genre, leading to guest features on Zion's "Cuarto Nivel" from The Perfect Melody, Hector El Father's "Hola Bebé" from The Bad Boy: The Most Wanted Edition, Julio Voltio's "Pónmela" from En Lo Claro, and the remix version of Tito El Bambino's "Siente El Boom". "Pónmela" was included on the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV and reached No. 41 on Billboards Hot Latin Songs, on January 26, 2008. "Siente El Boom (Remix)" was also included on the video game, giving credit only to Tito El Bambino and Randy, performers of the original version. 2007's guest features by Randy on De La Ghetto's "Sensación del Bloque" and Tito El Bambino's original version of "Siente El Boom" are cited by Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic as being the collaborations which significantly improved the duo's profile internationally. "Siente El Boom" peaked at No. 14 on Billboards Hot Latin Songs on June 16, 2007 and at No. 9 on Tropical Airplay on July 28, 2007. Randy was also featured on Tego Calderón's El Abayarde Contraataca with the single "Quitarte To", which peaked at number 10 on Hot Latin Songs on December 8, 2007.
Casa de Leones and Los Más Sueltos del Reggaetón In 2006, Elías de León and Carlos "Karly" Rosario, A&R of White Lion Records Carlos "Karly" Rosario proposed to assemble a reggaeton quintet composed by Jowell & Randy, J King & Maximan, and Guelo Star. The group was named Casa de Leones and remained active until 2008, releasing a namesake studio album on June 26, 2007, under Black Lion Entertainment Inc and Warner Music Latina. Casa de Leones was No. 3 on Billboards Top Latin Albums chart for their debut week on July 7, 2007 and it also reached No. 126 on the Billboard 200. The album received a five out of five score by Evan Gutierrez of AllMusic, writing that the group "may have created the most listenable reggaeton album to date". He said that Casa de Leones was a "house of songwriters" and praised the use of live instruments instead of "the typical 808 drum machine and cheap-sounding synth melodies".
The album's lead single, "No Te Veo", was released on June 12, 2007 and became a major hit across American Latin radio stations going as high as No. 4 on Hot Latin Songs on August 4, 2007 and No. 2 on Tropical Airplay on October 27, 2007. It was originally written and recorded in 2004 by Jowell, Randy, and Puerto Rican producer DJ Blass, who brought the idea from France suggesting a fusion between urban and soca music. The duo feared to release it at the time for being "different". The song was taken up again three years later after Casa de Leones was formed, and J King & Maximan and Guelo Star wrote their respective verses. "No Te Veo" received an ASCAP Latin Music Award for Urban Song of the Year in 2008 and was nominated twice for the 2008 Billboard Latin Music Awards, for Hot Latin Song of the Year and Reggaeton Song of the Year. The second single, "Shorty", was performed only by Randy and came out on October 16, 2007. The song peaked at No. 16 on Latin Rhythm Airplay on February 16, 2008. During mid-2007, the group was featured on a remix version of "Impacto" by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee. At some point in 2008, each member decided to focus on their own careers.
Jowell & Randy's debut studio album as duo, titled Los Más Sueltos del Reggaetón, was released on December 18, 2007, under White Lion and Warner Latina. The album was No. 42 on Top Latin Albums and No. 21 on Heatseeker Albums on January 19, 2008. Its lead single, "Un Poco Loca", was released during late 2007 and featured fellow reggaeton singer and songwriter De la Ghetto, but did not enter any Billboard chart. The second single, "Let's Do It", was released in March 2008 reaching No. 32 on Hot Latin Songs on April 5, 2008. Both singles were accompanied by a music video; "Un Poco Loca" was filmed at a fast food restaurant in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico and "Let's Do It" was filmed at a nightclub. The track "Agresivo II", a sequel to their first single, peaked at No. 35 on Billboards Latin Rhythm Airplay chart on March 15, 2008.
El Momento During early 2008, they were featured alongside De La Ghetto on the remix version of "Inalcanzable" by Mexican Latin pop group RBD. The song received a Premio Juventud for The Perfect Combo on July 17, 2008. After the expiration of their contract with Warner Latina, the duo received various offers by record labels including Sony Music Latin, Machete Music, and WY Records. During mid-2009, Jowell & Randy signed with the latter, founded by Grammy Award-winners Wisin & Yandel, who were the most interested in them, according to Jowell. On January 12, 2010, the duo released their first mixtape, titled Tengan Paciencia, which served as a prelude to their second studio album, scheduled to be released during the rest of the year. The mixtape compiled various duo and solo guest features by Jowell and Randy, as well as songs that were discarded for the final tracklist of their next album.